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Massachusetts education board rejects most of teachers' changes to Morgan School turnaround plan

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Former Morgan School teachers Dar Cote-Houghton and Lynn Potter attended a meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in Boston on Monday.
(Shira Schoenberg / The Republican)

"The (Holyoke Teachers Association) believes the turnaround will cause Morgan students to founder in the status quo," said Sandra Quinn, staff counsel for the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester responded, "The Morgan turnaround plan represents a thoughtful deliberation over half a year including recommendations from local stakeholders."

Morgan School, with 400 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, is one of the poorest schools in the state, with 98 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, according to the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Nearly half its students are English language learners.

In October 2013, Chester named the Morgan School a "level five" school, which classifies it as chronically underperforming based on test results. Morgan was one of four schools to receive that designation, which lets the state appoint a receiver to take control of the school and implement a turnaround plan.

Chester appointed the Texas-based Project GRAD as a receiver and laid out a turnaround plan with significant changes, including: recruiting new teachers and requiring all existing staff to reapply to their jobs; introducing performance-based compensation for teachers; extending the school day and adding new professional development days.

It called for creating a new center to focus on science, math and technology education; implementing new forms of data management and assessment; creating a new parent advisory council focused on English language learners; and creating a council to explore partnerships with social service organizations.

According to the Holyoke Teachers Association, the local MTA branch, only seven of Morgan School's 43 teachers reapplied to their jobs. The plan, the union says, would increase teachers' hours by 395 hours a year, or 31 percent, while increasing their pay by an average of 7 percent.

Several former teachers attended the hearing.

"If they're going to start undervaluing what teachers do, rather than paying them what they deserve ... I can't apply on a moral basis. We're responsible for teaching the future," said Dar Cote-Houghton, who did not reapply for her job teaching reading intervention.

Chester agreed with the union on several suggestions, which the board voted to adopt: introducing a pre-kindergarten program this fall and establishing an advisory council to focus on students with learning disabilities. The board also adopted a proposal to identify specific strategies that will be used for special needs students. Chester supported the teachers' proposal to continue to deliver existing social services and counseling, although a vote had not been taken at press time.

But the board declined to adopt multiple other requests. The board rejected motions to add instructional staff for special education and eliminate two administrative positions – a director of business development and the principal of a new program focused on science, technology and engineering. It rejected a motion to create smaller classes, after Chester said the school had no capability to accommodate them. It rejected a motion to review the effectiveness of existing extended school days before adding more time to the day.

Board member Harneen Chernow expressed frustration with the process.

"Any discussion is met with it won't work so don't vote on it or it's too late so don't vote on it," Chernow said. "This process is not conducive to this board being engaged in this whole appeals process."

Regarding the STEM program, Quinn questioned the need for it. "We have kids in Morgan who can't read or write or speak English," Quinn said.

But Daryl Ogden, chief executive officer of project GRAD, pointed to statistics that Chester cited that not a single fifth grader and only 2 percent of eighth graders were ranked proficient in science on standardized tests.

"To create a robust STEM model we believe is critical for the performance of the school," Ogden said.

The board also rejected a request by the teachers' union to to provide a three-year budget. Quinn questioned the management fees being paid to Project GRAD and other outside consultants, which she said will amount to $1.8 million over three and a half years. Quinn said the union had to file a public records request to get budgetary information for the turnaround plan.

Bill Bell, chief financial officer of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said budgeting is done on an annual basis and Quinn's numbers were incorrect and based on preliminary discussions.

The cost of the turnaround plan is $470,000 for 2014-2015, Bell said. The biggest funder is the Holyoke School District, but state and federal money is also being used.

Ogden said that includes funding for a chief academic officer, senior vice president of school operations, director of data, director of business operations and other staff. The organization will hire staff within Massachusetts and also bring staff from out of state.